James Kan smiling in a wetsuit and swim cap

Hello, my name is

James Kan

Senior AI Software Developer at Unison · Pharmacist · Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

About me

Hi! The name is James. I am a Senior AI Software Developer at Unison, a power distribution company in New Zealand, where I build intelligent automation across the Microsoft ecosystem. Before that I spent six and a half years in Unison's Asset Management team.

Given the finite resources that we have, I value the importance of "doing the right things at the right time for the right genuine purpose" in order to ensure value-for-money for the stakeholders.

When the IT side of the brain is not being used, you may sometimes find me working as a locum pharmacist or writing a speech for the next Toastmasters meeting.

Experience

  1. May 2025 – Present

    Senior AI Software Developer

    Unison

    Working in the Digital Technologies Group, the focus is to utilise a mixture of Microsoft tools from low code to full code to create intelligent automations to improve the efficiency across various business processes.

    My scope of involvement to date has been:

    • Leading software architecture and development of intelligent automation solutions, spanning low-code through to "full code"
    • Designing and building AI-enabled solutions using tools such as Microsoft Copilot Studio
    • Building and integrating solutions across the Microsoft ecosystem, including Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, SharePoint, and Azure services
    • Setting and maintaining development standards, governance, and application lifecycle management practices across both low-code and full-code solutions
    • Identifying and scoping opportunities where AI and automation can streamline business processes, working with stakeholders to prioritise high-value use cases
    • Mentoring junior developers and supporting citizen developers across the organisation, conducting code reviews and providing technical guidance

    See projects in my LinkedIn profile for examples of how I have applied my skills in this role.

  2. Nov 2018 – May 2025

    Asset Management System Optimisation Specialist

    Unison

    As an AMS Specialist, I worked closely with different stakeholders in the Asset Management (AM) space spanning areas such as Network Development Planning, Continual Improvement, and Performance Evaluation.

    My range of responsibilities and skillsets:

    • Practise and provide AM guidance
    • Develop and maintain in-house applications to support a range of management systems that comply with various ISO standards such as ISO 55001
    • Collect and perform data analytics
    • Project Management across the entire lifecycle
    • Change Management
    • Organising and running effective risk workshops
    • Stakeholder Engagement, ranging from C-Suite level to managers, team leaders, engineers, and developers
    • Delivering effective presentations

  3. Nov 2016 – Oct 2018

    Asset Intelligence Software Developer

    Unison

    As a developer, my role was around Decision Support System (DSS), a project started by the Asset Intelligence team in 2016.

    The concept of a generic decision support system (DSS) is based on harvesting and analysing business data so that business information can be derived in order to make the relevant decisions. An example is Countdown collects customers' shopping habit (data) and analyses the data to determine the purchasing choices (information) so that the planograms can be re-arranged to promote certain business objectives (decision).

    DSS is about harvesting data from the wide range of sensors installed at various points of the electricity grid system so that relevant information can be compiled. This allows optimisation decisions to be made in the interest of the company's vision.

    Throughout the tenure, I created various software tools in order to support Unison's journey on being able to make better business decisions.

  4. Jan 2017 – Nov 2018

    Software Developer

    RxOne

    I first started as a Test Analyst at RxOne, with a focus on writing test cases to validate development progress. In the latter few months, I took on further responsibilities as a developer to migrate existing UI elements into the new WPF framework.

  5. Jul 2015 – Nov 2015

    Student Lead Developer

    NOW Internet / EIT

    I led a team of five student developers to create a customer portal for NOW Internet. The scope was initially front- and back-ends, but due to a change in circumstances, it was later reduced to front-end.

    As the team leader, I learned how to delegate sections of the projects to my teammates and how to keep track of their respective progress. As a student developer, I learned the art of "two-way traffic" between my team and the client.

    Although the deliverable was not implemented as NOW Internet's replacement customer portal, the experience has given me insight into the "real world" and shown me the difference between being a programmer and a developer.

    The deliverable was formally accepted on the 3rd of November 2015 by NOW Internet, with 96% being the final score.

  6. 2012 – 2016

    Community Pharmacist

    Andrew Spence Pharmacy

    I worked as a sole-charge pharmacist at Andrew Spence Pharmacy in Napier, overseeing the running of the pharmacy as a whole. My responsibilities involved counselling patients on new medications and ensuring understanding with present medicines, blister-packaging medications for patients where medicine-management difficulty arises, dispensing and checking prescriptions and providing health advice as required.

  7. 2010 – 2012

    Community Pharmacist

    Tamatea Pharmacy

    I undertook my internship at Tamatea Pharmacy in Napier in 2011 and continued my employment as a pharmacist in 2012. As part of the daily running of the pharmacy, I was responsible for dispensing and checking prescriptions, counselling patients, giving health advice, helping patients to manage opioid addiction and blister-packaging medications. I was also involved in the Medicines Use Review programme, whereby I paid a visit to selected patients in residence to review their medications and answer any queries they had. The range of activities involved has developed me into an “all-rounder” pharmacist.

  8. 2010 – 2012

    Online Pharmacy Manager

    Sunshine Pharmacy

    I was appointed as the webmaster of Sunshine Pharmacy, an online pharmacy based in Gisborne, New Zealand. This position involved updating the database every fortnight, optimising the website's layout, and promoting its SEO position on Google and other major search engines.

Earlier roles (2006 – 2010)

  1. 2010

    Computer Technician

    Grafton Hostel

    I worked as a part-time computer technician at Grafton Halls of Residence in Auckland. My responsibilities included troubleshooting computer and network problems. I enjoyed the challenges this brought and the opportunity to work with a variety of people.

  2. 2009 – Present

    NZCRS Webmaster

    New Zealand

    I am the webmaster of the New Zealand Controlled Release Society Local Chapter (NZCRS) website, whereby I ensure the web pages are up-to-date with the latest content. This includes upcoming NZCRS workshops, notices, and minutes from meetings.

    In 2016, I rebuilt the website using Foundation and AngularJS, giving a modern impression to a now responsive single-page application (SPA) website.

  3. 2009 – 2010

    Summer Research Student

    University of Auckland

    I worked on a summer studentship research project at the University of Auckland. The objective was to investigate the risk of prostate cancer based on the patients’ genetic makeup and dietary intake. Findings were submitted to Discipline of Nutrition and Cancer Society of New Zealand at the University and presented at Nutrigenomics international conference.

  4. 2009

    APSA Webmaster

    School of Pharmacy

    I established the new Auckland Pharmacy Students' Association (APSA) website in 2009 and was subsequently appointed as the association's webmaster. The major roles I undertook included website administration, liaison with the publication managers, and troubleshooting of technical issues that the association faced.

  5. 2008 – 2009

    Summer Research Student

    University of Auckland

    My summer studentship research involved a project at the University of Auckland, in which the susceptibility of enlisted patients to glaucoma was investigated based on their genetic makeup. Findings were presented and accepted by the Department of Ophthalmology at the University.

  6. 2007 – 2009

    UALUG Webmaster

    University of Auckland

    During the two-year tenure, I was the web designer and the webmaster for the University of Auckland Linux User Group website. My responsibility was to update the web pages as required.

  7. 2006 – 2007

    Ingham House Webmaster

    Howick College

    I was the webmaster for the Ingham house, whereby I played a role in re-designing all the web pages and updating the website on a regular basis.

Education

  1. 2014 – 2016

    Graduate Diploma in IT

    I scored straight A+ for all completed papers, with 94% being the average score. The papers accomplished are as below:

    • Introduction to Object Oriented Programming
    • Advanced Object Oriented Programming
    • Business Application Programming
    • Special Topic Programming
    • Project Management
    • Information Technology Management
    • Database Management Systems
    • Database Administration

  2. 2007 – 2010

    Bachelor of Pharmacy (upper second-class honours)

    I studied a variety of chemistry, biology, medicinal science, pharmacology, pharmaceutical, pharmacy practice, and law and ethics papers at School of Pharmacy (The University of Auckland). For my elective subject, I pursued the Introduction to Computer Science paper and achieved an A+.